- What Makes Web Hosting Best for Resellers?
- 1. The Best Reseller Web Hosting: HostGator
- Other Reasons We Like HostGator
The Best Reseller Hosting 2020: Cutting Down Those Margins
Reseller hosting allows you to create a business around selling space on the internet. You price, sell and maintain any clients you have while the web hosts deals with any hardware or software on the tech end. Essentially, you rent server space at wholesale cost and sell it for profit. It certainly can be a profitable business, too.
The billion or so websites live in 2016 nearly doubled during 2017, and the number continues to grow by the minute. Reseller hosting allows you to get your piece of the pie, capitalizing on the websites that go live every second. You can’t, however, just take the best web hosting for small business and apply it to a reseller. Selling web hosting requires some specific features, so some criteria had to be set in place before making any selections.
What Makes Web Hosting Best for Resellers?
Like any business endeavor, selling web hosting requires quite a few resources. This is true in terms of server power and extra features, both of which need to be top notch in order for resellers to consider.
We first looked at any extras the host included. This could be anything from WHMCS billing to cPanel integration, meaning you only need to go to one place for everything you need. InMotion did particularly well in this area, with Corero DDoS protection, Patchman malware removal and WHMCS billing software.
Next, we looked at uptime and consistency. A 99.9 percent uptime guarantee is a prerequisite, with features like SSD storage and HTTP/2 servers ranking highly among considerations. A2 has both, giving you great speeds and uptime, and providing an anytime money back guarantee in the event it falls below the 99.9 percent threshold.
However, even with a guarantee, things will go wrong. In the event that it does, a solid support staff is essential. You’ll act as a middleman in many cases, contacting the web host with questions from your customers. Having a timely flow between the two worlds allows you to focus more on acquiring new business.
Lastly, we looked at cost. While this is an area we always consider, it is particularly important with reseller hosting. The point of reselling is to generate profit, so each web host on this list has low enough prices to do that, with some wiggle room to grow.
Resellers should also have a strong grasp of WordPress since it’s such a powerful platform and many clients what their sites built on it. Make sure to check out our WordPress guides to learn more.
1. The Best Reseller Web Hosting: HostGator
HostGator offers some of the most comprehensive reseller plans we’ve seen. Plans are chock full of features for managing your customers, providing new services and even taking customer support, all with a fairly low price tag (which is one of the reasons it did so well in our cheap web hosting guide).
You get a free ResellerClub account with any plan. This service allows you to sell 70+ gTLDs and ccTLDs to your customers with up to 80 percent off registration cost. You can offer domain registrations and transfers from your account too, getting both at cost.
There are quite a few tools to brand your business as well. HostGator includes its uniquely designed cPanel for your customers to use, allowing you to add your own branding to it. Additionally, you can take advantage of HostGator’s backlog of video tutorials and add your branding to them as well.
Above all, you have complete control over the resources you purchase and how you allocate them. HostGator puts you in charge of everything, with plenty of options in case you run out. You can easily upgrade to another tier midway through a month so you lose no potential clients.
Other Reasons We Like HostGator
HostGator is our number one pick for best web hosting providers in terms of reliability. You have a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee that the company actually follows through on. If the servers ever fall below this threshold, HostGator will compensate you for the entire month.
Your customers will use cPanel, but so will you. HostGator’s redesign of the classic web hosting look does wonders for usability. The control panel is easy to use, with plenty of power backing it up. You have all the options of a normal cPanel, with a redesign that’s hard to match.
There’s a lot to like about HostGator, from the excellent speeds and uptime to the ease of cPanel. You can read our HostGator review to learn more about why we rank this provider among the best, or try it out yourself with a 45-day money back guarantee.
Pros:
- Free ResellerClub account
- White label hosting
- Complete control over resources
Cons:
- No SSD storage
2. GreenGeeks
Nipping at HostGator’s heels is the eco-friendly web host, GreenGeeks. This provider gives you a wide array of features, including SSD storage, HTTP/2 enabled servers and fully scalable resources.
Its base plan gives you 10 cPanel accounts that are fully white label, meaning you can add your own branding and colors to the interface. More expensive plans grant access to more cPanel accounts, bringing the cost lower than a couple of dollars per account, per month.
The resources you purchase are fully in your control, too. GreenGeeks allows you to allocate resources however you please, meaning you can move more or less to single account. Having full control leaves you the flexibility to offer different plans to your customers and ensure they have enough power behind their website.
To keep all your clients organized, GreenGeeks includes a free WHMCS license with each plan. This billing software is fully automated, generating and sending invoices to your customers each month and tracking what payments come back.
Other Reasons We Like GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is unique because of its dedication to eco-friendly web hosting. It may not seem like a big deal, but visiting a single website can account for up to 300mg of carbon emissions per second.
You can’t change the nature of web hosting. However, GreenGeeks purchases three times the amount of amperage used in renewable energy credits. You and your customers will help reduce the carbon footprint of web hosting and provide more renewable avenues for other cloud services.
GreenGeeks focuses on a small number of programs, but puts full attention to each. Plans are fully loaded with features and backed by renewable energy. Read our GreenGeeks review to learn more, or try it out yourself with a 30-day money back guarantee.
Pros:
- Green web hosting
- Free WHMCS license
- SSD storage
Cons:
- Few data centers
3. A2 Hosting
A2, much like HostGator, is a web host that does just about everything. It’s reseller plans are among the best of the bunch, fitted with cPanel integration, SSD storage and a generous number of supported accounts.
While most reseller plans come with some sort of billing software, A2 gives you two different options. Silver accounts and above have the choice between WHMCS or Blesta for managing accounts. WHMCS is very popular with a large community for solving problems and Blesta is completely open source, allowing you to customize it to fit your needs.
You also the option between a Windows or Linux server. Your OS choice opens up new possibilities for software, depending on what you’d like to offer. Linux is built on cPanel and PHP while Windows uses Plesk and .NET cores.
Each plan has a decent amount of resources as well. A2 starts with support for up to 40 accounts and grows from there. While there may not be enough storage space to fill all of those accounts initially, it’s easy to upgrade your plan as your business grows.
Other Reasons We Like A2 Hosting
A2 is among the fastest web hosts we’ve tested. Base speeds are helped by SSD storage, with multiple data centers around the world to serve up content. It also offers a “turbo” server that boasts speeds of up to 20 times faster than normal.
Support is excellent at A2 as well. You have the usual array of live chat, email and phone support, with the addition of a rich knowledge base. Additionally, there are few guides for getting started that you can point your customers towards for basic questions.
A2 has a 15 year track record of consistency and quality in the web hosting space. Check out our A2 Hosting review to learn more, or sign up yourself with an anytime money-back guarantee.
Pros:
- Choice of free billing software
- cPanel integration
- Linux or Windows servers
Cons:
- Not much storage space
4. InMotion
InMotion has a wide range of plans, but not all get equal treatment. A few falter while others flourish, but, thankfully, reseller plans fit in the latter category. You have the choice between six different configurations, with a slew of features from billing to backup included.
InMotion’s main selling point is its transparency. It’s a white label product, meaning that you use its resources with your name in front. InMotion will operate in the background so there’s no confusion with your business or its credibility.
The resource end is quite impressive too. All reseller servers are fit with SSD storage and RAID-6 data protection (to learn more, read our article on what is RAID). This gives you the fastest speeds for data transfer while still maintaining redundancy.
Outside of resources, resellers get a few extra goodies. You’ll get a free account with eNom so you can offer domain name and SSL registration to your customers, and the WHMCS billing software. It will automatically send invoices, collect payments (with taxes) and keep track of all your current customers.
Other Reasons We Like InMotion Hosting
InMotion offers a lot of other perks to its customers too. You have access to some of the best support we’ve seen from a web host. Even with the staff segmented into different departments, it’s never difficult to find an answer. For example, in our testing, a member of the sales staff understood and could give support on tech issues as well.
Your plan also comes fit with security features too. Patchman malware protection and removal will continually scrub your server for any malicious software and quarantine anything that’s suspect. Additionally, Corero DDoS protection will stop brute force attacks in the event someone tries to flood your server (read our article on DDoS attacks to learn more).
InMotion offers just about everything. Additional software is either included or available to purchase, with a slew of unique features already at the ready. Read our InMotion review for our full thoughts, or try it our yourself with a generous 90-day money back guarantee.
Pros:
- Excellent security suite
- SSD storage
- White label hosting
Cons:
- Occasional downtime
5. SiteGround
SiteGround is our number one pick for the best web hosting for WordPress and, for many of the same reasons, it makes its way onto this list too. SiteGround offers ultra-fast web hosting at a low price, with excellent support to boot.
Its reseller plans work a bit differently than other hosts. You purchase credits instead of a monthly or annual plan. Each credit provides one year of reseller service, and you can purchase as many as you want at any given time. They never expire, either, meaning you can launch of renew an account whenever you want.
This approach works far better than others that cap your resources depending on your plan. Each reseller account is intended for a single website, meaning you offer a comprehensive plan to each of your customers. For example, you could offer three years of hosting and purchase three credits for one customer, and give seven credits for seven years to another.
It’s a little strange at first, but it’s the kind of flexibility that’s perfect for resellers. Instead of making a universal account, you can tweak each plan to fit whatever customer is receiving it.
Other Reasons We Like SiteGround
Outside of the unique approach to reseller hosting, there’s a lot else to like about SiteGround. You have the option to fully white label your account, meaning that all SiteGround branding is removed and you can add your own in place of it.
Your customers get a nice list of features as well. Each site has free daily backups, with the previous 30 backups kept on file, and a free Cloudflare CDN to improve speeds and mitigate DDoS attacks. All servers are HTTP/2 enabled and fit with SSD storage as well, so your customers are getting the latest tech.
SiteGround is easily one of the best reselling options with comprehensive plans, a wonderful support staff and solid speeds. Read our SiteGround review to learn more about this host, or try it out yourself with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pros:
- Inexpensive
- Excellent support
- SSD storage
Cons:
- Only annual hosting available
Conclusion
With a top-notch web host in hand, you can easily start a business selling space on the internet. There aren’t many providers that give up space on servers for the purpose of resale. However, even among the small group, these five providers are the best.
What reseller plan are you going with? Let us know in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.
Jacob Roach is a Midwesterner with a love for technology, an odd combination given his corn field-ridden setting. After finishing a degree in English at Southern New Hampshire University, Jacob settled back under the Arch in his hometown of St. Louis, MO, where he now writes about anything tech. His main interests are web technologies and online privacy, though he dips his toes in photography and the occasional card game as well. You can reach him at jacob[at]commquer.com.